Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet could see that it was a shock to the fox that she was only about twenty days old. She surprised herself too, she had done and seen so many things, it would've been enough for a lifetime. And finally, they asked some questions that she could answer.

"There are many other places besides Eridanus. But I've only ever wandered in the South-East Quadrant and Polaris. The South-West Quadrant, well, has horrors I have heard, beyond anything you or I could ever imagine." Never having been there herself, all the knowledge she knew of the place was from stories. And though stories tended to stretch the truth a bit, truth was based on facts, and if even a figment of the stories were true, she would never want to go there. She snapped herself out of those thoughts and continued answering Mayfal's questions. "Sorry, um, anyway. Other than Eridanus I have been to Polaris and Orion. Orion is in the South-West Quadrant, but it is the only safe cave there. I have also been to many of the tunnels in between and one of those tunnels is where you hatched. The one that connects Eridanus, Orion, and Polaris. Perfect! Right? I believe it's called... Tunnel I." she smiled. "I was born in Eridanus, actually, next to the pools of water." Comet took a deep breath. She hoped she hadn't bored them, that was a lot of talk. "So, um, do anything else lately? Other than hunting and sleeping?"

@Mayfal

Finally, some answers! Mayfal didn't quite understand what South-East or South-West were, but they understood that there were many caves categorized into four groups. That helped narrow things down. And this South-West group seemed to hold the type of dangers that even the daunting Comet feared. Mayfal made sure to remember the name so that they would never end up in there.

But Mayfal had come from Tunnel I. How interesting. Originating from the intersection of three caves that Comet visited often. It seemed a little like fate.

When Comet asked her question, Mayfal couldn't help but laugh a little. Hunting and sleeping was most of their life so far.

"I've tried to explore Eridanus a little. See what things smell like, sound like, feel like. I didn't know that there were pools, though! Those sound exciting!" And Mayfal was genuinely excited to feel these pools.

"Tell me about the pools. Oh! Also, I've been wondering what I look like. And what you look like! How do we look?" Maybe that was a harder question. Comet would have to translate visuals into a language that Mayfal would understand. Would she be able to do such a feat?

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet thought is was nice that Mayfal was exploring around on her own. Since Eridanus was going to be their home for now, or forever, it was important that they got to know the landmarks and surroundings very well. Maybe someday she could improve their home a bit, add on some more rooms and fun things in there.

"At the far end of this cave there are two pools, they are a medium size, not really too big or small. But they are really pretty, and I like going there just to relax. We may be able to check it out today if we have time." the next question was truly a hard one. How do you describe what things looked like to someone who was blind? They did not know of shapes, or colors, or anything like that. Doing such a thing was near impossible. But she would have to try her best.

"Well, to start, you are a fox. And um, you are a white fox. White is the color of snow," so far, nothing she said was very helpful, "White is the color of pureness, nothingness, just, empty." she hoped that would be good enough to explain the color. She hadn't ever really thought about having to describe such things until she had met Mayfal. "You have triangle ears," Comet traced the shape of a triangle on the top of their paw, "And your head is in the shape of sort of a circle with a rectangle." At this point, Comet realized what she was doing so far wasn't going to work. What she needed to do was make something. "I have an idea! Wait right here."

The wolf ran nearby and searched for rocks, finding one, she carried it back Mayfal. The rock was a rather big one, about three by four feet, and completely smooth on the top. "I'm going to make something for you." She hoped that this would work. The fountain worked all right, but it came out at too high of a speed, and completely cut the rock in half. "Whoops, not the intended effect. I will find another rock." Comet ran off again. She was determined to give Mayfal something she could use.

@Mayfal

Mayfal was very excited at the idea of going to the pools with Comet. The stream around the house was nice, but an entire pool was a very enticing idea.

And, Mayfal was a fox. Funny, they didn't know that creatures had more specific classifications. Mayfal just knew them as big, medium, small, predator and prey. But Mayfal was a fox. A white fox. A color. A color of nothingness. Just like what Mayfal's vision was. It seemed appropriate. White must be a dark color, then. A dark coat! Very good for camouflage.

And ears the shapes of...triangles? Mayfal felt Comet's claw softly draw atop their own. Three lines that connected to each other. And where they connected, it seemed to be pointy. Mayfal lifted their paw to feel their own ears. It did feel vaguely like a "triangle" but the connecting parts were more curved. So really, their ears were curvy triangles.

Circles and rectangles, though. These shapes must have been far more intricate because Comet went off to find a thing. Ah, things. They heard scraping like a large rock moving over the ground. And then the sound of rushing water and a cracking sound. What in these caves was going on?

Mayfal was patient, as Comet requested. Mayfal could not understand what she was trying to make, though. They actually found it rather intriguing. What would the end result be?

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

It did not take long for Comet to find herself another rock. She dragged it back to Mayfal, who seemed to be contemplating what she had told them about how they looked like.

This rock was a bit smaller than the last, but no matter. It was decently sized for her second attempt at a portrait. She stored up the energy in her body and expelled it in the form of water. She kept the pressure nice and even, carving the picture of Mayfal in the rock. It was not a bad picture actually, it looked good. "Come here Mayfal." Comet moved their paw so it was on the rock. "Feel it, that's how you look like."

@Mayfal

Another rock was dragged in front of Mayfal from the sound of it. Then there was a grinding sound, but nothing cracked or fell. Then, Mayfal's paw was placed on the rock.

They searched around for...something. They felt an indentation. They followed it. Lines curved and went into other lines. It was all starting to get confusing so Mayfal put their other paw on the indented rock, too.

Mayfal seemed to be made of a lot of lines connected at many points. They also seemed to be rather small. They found the triangle ears that Comet had described earlier. From there, they discovered the round head and sharp muzzle. Which part was the circle and which part was the rectangle, though? Mayfal's body seemed wide but their legs seemed rather thin. And their paws were round and small as well. Then their tail. Their tail was an odd shape, bigger than their legs but not bigger than their body. It ended in a point. Mayfal felt their tail; the end of it didn't feel very pointy to them. Maybe that's just the way it appeared to other creatures, which was a good defense tactic!

"Wow!" Mayfal was genuinely amazed. They had a better understanding of themself now. What else could Comet mimic on stone?

"What about you? What are you? How do you look?" Mayfal was becoming too excited for their body to contain. They wanted more of this 'sight'.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet watched as Mayfal started tracing the lines. Their paws sliding across the stone, feeling the indentations which told them what they looked like. A fox. She had been careful to make it life size, so they could get a good idea of their size. It was a good thing they weren't too big, yet. Slowly, Comet watched the amazement fill their face. She smiled, it felt good to show them what they looked like.

"I'm a wolf, I guess they are sort of like foxes? But bigger? Not really the same though, there are some differences. Let me find another rock." she ran off for the third time, to find the rock needed to make a self portrait. It took a bit longer this time, since the area had already been cleared of big rocks from before, so she had to go further. When she found the rock, she hauled it back to Mayfal and began work on the picture.

This one was a bit harder to draw, since Comet couldn't see herself. She had to constantly pause and look at her reflection in the water in the area to see what she look like. But when she finished, the portrait was just as good as the one of Mayfal, and since this was life size too, it was a bit bigger. Comet guided Mayfal's paw onto the picture.

@Mayfal

A wolf. Mayfal liked the sound of this classification. It was similar to 'woof' which was something Mayfal recognized immediately. It also sounded strong. Wolf. Very assertive. Not a fox, not the same creature that Mayfal was, but similar. It was like they were related to Comet, in a way.

They heard the familiar scraping and grinding again. Then their paw was placed on another stone. This time, the stone was big enough for Mayfal to stand on. With all of their paws in use, they could take the all the lines in more fully.

There were similar features, like the triangle ears and the round head. The angled muzzle and the wide body. But, there were differences in the details. The legs were much longer and not thin at all. The tail was different, too. Comet's seemed to have MANY points on it!

Mayfal started jumping back and forth between the rock carvings, comparing. It seemed that Comet was bigger than Mayfal in every way. Except the ears and the end of the muzzle. Theirs we're proportionally bigger. Mayfal wondered how that was even possible.

Mayfal wanted more. "Come here." They requested. They got on their hind legs and placed their paws on Comet's face. They started to feel around. It was different than the carving. The general shapes were the same, but there was even MORE detail. When Mayfal moved their paw to the left where Comet's left ear should have been, they felt something hard and cold. They felt further and there was a long, not-fuzzy thing attached to the hard, cold thing.

"What's this? And this?" Comet seemed to hold far more mysteries than she let on.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet was happy that Mayfal was so excited about the pictures. They were to best things she could do to show the fox what they looked like. Only just now had she realized how similar they were. Wolves and foxes didn't have that much differences after all. And they both happened to be white. She laughed when Mayfal jumped back and forth between the rocks, it was a very silly sight.

Heeding their words, Comet walked up to Mayfal and allowed them to place their paws on her face. Even better than a picture, was feeling the thing for themselves. Why hadn't she thought of that? There was a level of detail that could be acquired from the actual thing than the model. Their paws were gentle, and didn't press to hard on her face. Finally, their paws reached her gemstone ear.

"That is my gemstone. It is a light blue." she had forgotten that Mayfal did not know colors, "Blue is like a sort of cold, the kind that sort of makes you curl up and want to sleep. It is also sort of bold, but not showy, it is like sad feelings, or memorable things." Comet hoped that would be a sufficient explanation, as colors were not really something that could be described.

"And the thing that is tied around it is a feather. I collected it on one of my adventures, and I put it on my ear, just like my dad. He has a feather on his ear too, but it's smaller than mine. My feather is a bit big for me, but I hope to grow into it someday." the wolf pondered how she would describe the color grey. "The feather is grey, the color of things that are unseen, unknown, and it gives you a slight feeling of danger." She let the fox ponder those things for a moment.

@Mayfal

Light blue. Cold, sleepy, bold, humble. Sad and nostalgic.

"Comet is blue!" Mayfal said with a giggle. The description reminded them of her. A little cold on the outside, warm enough to sleep next to, brave yet kind, sad yet persevering.

And Comet had a...father?

"What is a father?" Mayfal had never heard the word before. Maybe this was the 'we' that Comet mentioned when the two had first met. That reminded them of other questions that they had when they first met Comet.

"Also, off-topic, but what does 'Comet' mean exactly? I've been wondering about that for a while." It was so fun to ask questions and received answers! Mayfal could do this ALL day!

They patiently waited for Comet to think of her responses.

@Comet